Giuliani demands Mueller reduce the scope of Trump testimony

Mueller has been seeking the President’s testimony on a variety of tops surround the probe

Trump's attorneys do not want the president discussing possible obstruction during his interview

WASHINGTON, U.S. - The Special Counsel Robert Muellers latest proposal seeking U.S. President Donald Trumps testimony as part of the Russia-Trump campaign collusion probe was rejected by the Presidents legal team.

On Wednesday, the Presidents top attorney, Rudy Giuliani announced that the offer made by Muellers team last week, which laid out the ground rules for a potential interview, had been rejected.

He confirmed that a counteroffer had been made, but categorically clarified that the counteroffer made by the Presidents team of lawyers may be the "last, best chance" Mueller has to secure Trump's testimony.

Last week, the former New York City Mayor confirmed that the Presidents legal team had received Muellers letter with a proposal for a potential interview with Trump, which he said outlined interview parameters.

However, exactly a week after receiving Muellers offer, Giuliani and his team have not only rejected it, but have indicated to the Special Counsel that he would have to go by the Presidents rules if he still seeks the testimony which is bound to be integral in the investigation.

The Special Counsels team, which first raised the prospect of a face-to-face interview with the President at the start of this year, has been engaged in negotiations with Trumps legal team since then.

During this period, Trumps legal team has undergone many changes and the entire reshuffle started initially because of Muellers quest to get the Presidents testimony under oath.

While Trumps attorneys and advisers have been urging him to decline any offer for a face-to-face interview with the Special Counsel - Trump has contradicted them all and has repeatedly expressed his desire to talk to Mueller under oath.

Meanwhile, despite many changes at its helm, Trumps legal team has maintained that a verbal testimony by the President could prove disastrous since the chances of Trump going off script and incriminating himself through false statements would be very high.

Yet, ever since he came onboard, Giuliani has kept negotiations ongoing, along with an aggressive line of attack on the Special Counsels investigation.

Last week, Giuliani and his client, both even declared that collusion is not a crime.

The negotiations culminated on Wednesday after Giuliani rejected Muellers latest terms for the interview and made his final offer - with terms suitable to the Presidents team of lawyers.

Later on Wednesday, sources quoted in reports revealed that Giulianis counteroffer sought a narrow path for answering questions.

Giuliani said, "We have now given him an answer. Obviously, he should take a few days to consider it, but we should get this resolved. We do not want to run into the November elections. So back up from that, this should be over by September 1.

Further, another Trump attorney Jay Sekulow too confirmed in a statement that his team had submitted a response to Mueller.

However, both Sekulow and Giuliani have declined to reveal details about the response sent to Mueller.

Previously, reports have revealed that negotiations have revolved around limiting any questions related to the other, potentially dangerous line of investigation being led by Mueller - the alleged obstruction of justice by the President.

However, on Wednesday, Giuliani said in a media interview thatthe Presidents attorneys would be willing to consider questions relating to any obstruction of justice inquiry as long as they are not "perjury traps.

Meanwhile, other disagreements between Mueller and Trumps team have revolved around offers by the Presidents lawyers, to provide the special counsel written answers to obstruction questions.

In a separate media interview, Giuliani also stated that he wants negotiations over the presidential interview with Mueller to be completed by September 1.

As an afterthought, Giuliani said that Republicans could benefit from dragging the process into the November midterm elections.

He explained, "When I first got involved, I would have told you not testifying would be the right legal strategy but then hurt politically. Now I'm thinking the continuance of the investigation would actually help because people are getting tired of it, and (the President) needs something to energize his voters because the Democrats look like they're energized. Nothing would energize (Republicans) more than, 'Let's save the President.'"